The Federal Government has raised alarm over alleged use of
what it called “deep” fake news to attack it and its officials.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed,
raised the alarm in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in
Sal Island, Cape Verde.
NAN reports that the minister was in Sal Island for the 64th
Conference of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation – Conference for
Africa and second edition of UNWTO Global Tourism Investment Forum.
Mohammed said fake news had worsened by becoming a weapon
for naysayers to attack government and its officials.
“As a matter of fact, Nigerians should know that we have
graduated from ordinary fake news to ”deep” fake news. The danger of deep fake
news is that it is difficult to differentiate the fake news from real news.
“This is because purveyors of deep fake news would take a
story, be it a video or a photograph and make it look real.
“They will take videos of what is happening in other lands,
doctor them and freely circulate them as what is really happening in Nigeria.
Ditto photographs.
“News stories are even worse, because they embellish such
fake stories with quotes and videos and even quote government officials, as if
they are real.
“This becomes more difficult for unsuspecting Nigerians to
know the difference between the fake news and real information,” he said.
The minister noted that at the beginning, purveyors of deep
fake news were largely unknown online publications, adding that it was,
however, unfortunate that otherwise reputable publications and some mainstream
media had joined the bandwagon.
Giving instances of deep fake news, the minister recalled
the aftermath of the interview by Channels Television of Benue Governor, Samuel
Ortom and a retired Navy Commodore, Kunle Olawunmi.
“After the interview, online and traditional newspapers were
awash with stories that the station had been shut, while some said that the
anchor people had been arrested.
Some even went to demonstrate the purported arrest of the
anchor people, but till today, the station is still open.
“These people have no shame because they know from the
beginning that they are telling deep fake news, they have no credibility and
can destroy anybody at will with their weapon,” he said.
The minister also recalled his recent official trip to
Washington to engage with think tanks and global media outfits, during which a
particular online publication twisted the purpose of the trip, claiming that he
went with his aide to beg Twitter and twitter shunned them.
The minister said the fake news was made deep by the online
publication by quoting the airline they travelled on, their seat number and
even video clips showing them in the aircraft.
“This is an example of deep fake news because any
unsuspecting Nigerians will believe it is true. Of course, they knew they were
telling lies because our itinerary and programmes in the US were not hidden,
but reported daily by social media, radio, newspapers and television.
“Even that same online newspaper carried stories of our
engagements, yet it kept saying we went to the US to beg Twitter and we were
shunned,” he said.
Mohammed said the same online publication also went ahead to
publish deep fake news about a US trip by the Chief of Staff to the President,
Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
He said with a deliberate intention to tarnish and destroy
the government, the online publication claimed that Gambari and other officials
were going to the US to infiltrate the ranks of agitators planning a protest
against the President, who would be attending United Nations General Assembly.
“When the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr Yemi
Kale retired some weeks ago, there was a story credited to him that while in
office, he was coerced by government to falsify figures about economic growth
of Nigeria.
“Of course, Kale came out to refute the story, but the
purveyors knew what they were doing.
“The deep fake news was fabricated just to take the shine
away from the government’s success in not only retaining positive GDP growth,
but surpassing all expectations crawling from 0.11 per cent two quarters ago to
marginal .51 per cent in the last quarter and then 5.0 percent.
“Of course, they don’t wish the government and Nigeria well,
but needed something to dampen the enthusiasm of government and make Nigerians
sad,” he said.
The minister said they foresaw the danger of fake news since
2017, when the federal government launched a campaign against it.
He reiterated the resolve of the federal government to
regulate the social media, which had become a major tool for propagating fake
news.
“Anytime the fake news purveyors strike, they strengthen our
resolve further to act on sanitising the social media. By their conduct, they
are showing the world that we are ripe in our pursuit of sanitising the social
media,” he said.
(NAN)
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